CHAPTER TWO
Incarnations
It was day one in the Kingdom of Ruelah and Ken had woken up and got off of a hard metal bed. "Well," he cracked his back "I definitely don't play a rich character." His curiosity was the first thing to kick in, aside from the pain in his back. He stood up and caught his reflection in the mirror on a nearby desk.
Horror.
He stared at the eerie reflection staring back at him.
His left arm was metal, his arm was a long rod, and it was encased around bars and spikes. A shield covered with spikes masked over his fleshly-gloved hand. Bolts decorated his shoulders. His right arm was a large laser cannon. The letter 'V' was shown twice on the arm, and instead of an elbow, he had a tiny planet Earth. "I don't even want to know" he shook his head and fought off shuddering.
His torso was covered by a breastplate, which slowly moved into his stomach, a spiraling mess of black wires surrounded by protective iron bars. His figure seemed so strong and yet so fragile. His left leg matched his left arm, a rod leading into those wires, protected by bars and leading into a huge metal boot. His right leg and arm matches as well. His thigh cut off at the knee and appeared not to be connected to his leg by anything else except for a mini floating planet earth again. His foot was a boot covered in spikes. It was a wonder how his leg could even function, and yet when he moved, it complied.
As a finishing touch, he had a wing shaped visor across one of his eyes. His hair, although now black, stayed the same. Just then a man rushed in wearing a blue uniform marked with a 'V' over the breast. "Is something the matter, Sir Wedge?"
Ken looked around the room slightly confused and soon realized the man was talking to him. "Oh. Me? Um, yeah. I had a nightmare."
"A night mare, sir?"
"Yeah, um, never mind."
"All right then, sir. Remember, you're leading your troops to practice today."
"My troops? Oh. Right," Ken wiped away some sweat beads from his forehead and tried to stop his voice from going awkwardly squeaky "I remember now... heh" he smiled and the guard left the room.
It was day one inthe Forest of Jezaiba and Matt found himself smack dab in the middle of the woods. There were absolutely no signs of civilization within a 50-mile radius.
His clothes consisted of white bandages wrapped loosely around every inch of his torso and left leg. He had shoulder pads and chain male on his arms leading down to navy blue gloves. His pants were colored medium-sea-green and in the center of his brown belt held a gold throwing star. He had on black leather booths with two belts wrapped around his right leg. Matt's favorite feature of his new found character was a toss up between the green mask that covered his mouth and the waist-cape that was shredded at the bottom.
He smelled as if he had been traveling through the woods for days. All at once the silence in the woods ended as a laser beam shot right by his head, letting off a glowing hot blue light. From the distance metallic grunting could be heard from left and right. "Oh yeah, this just keeps getting better and better." He rolled his eyes and began running for his life.
It was day one inthe Kingdom of Siah
Kari awoke from what could be noted as one of the most dreadful slumbers she had ever had. She was laying on a cement floor in the middle of a drafty, wet dungeon. Standing up she looked around at the rotting prison cells and noted the smell of moldy food, she couldn't help notice all the people who were yelling at her. A maid immediately rushed to her side. "Princess Vivian, are you all right?" She huffed. "What are you doing in your dungeon?"
"My dungeon?" Kari repeated. "Vivian? Princess Vivian?!"
"You're still with fever, I fear." The maid stated with concern. "Well, follow me to your chamber."
Kari followed the woman curiously and repeated. "My chamber...?" Kari hesitantly followed the maid up the cracking cement staircase leading them into a red hallway. The halls had many portraits of people she had obviously never heard of before and yet male or female, they all looked like her. Just then someone grasped onto her arm and stopped her in her tracks. "Daughter! How are we feeling this day?" came a jolly booming voice.
"Umm...father?" she took a guess.
He smiled. "Yes?"
She sighed of relief and pointed to the servant who was dragging her to her chamber "She told me I wasn't feeling well and that I should go to my chamber"
He was now turning to the maid holding Kari's arm "Megera," he said sternly "Do not make my daughter do things she doesn't feel she wants to do."
"No, no. It's fine" Kari protested. "I'd like to see my room."
"Pardon?" her father asked.
"Uhh. I said, I'm sick from, oncoming doom!!"
"Well then, off to bed with you."
Kari and her maid continued on their hideously long walk down the hideously long hallway and finally ended at a large oak door. Megera pushed it open to reveal Kari's gigantic teal colored room. Her closet was nine feet across and the handles were woodcarvings of a woman's head, presumably her mother. Her bed was even bigger than the closet and was a lighter color green than the walls. Her bedroom in this fictitious world was actually larger than her whole apartment in Odaiba!
She looked over inside her closet, which only held two outfits. One was a copy of what she was wearing currently and under her menu was listed as ROYAL ARMOR. It was a pink dress; long mesh sleeves and golden boots with pink bows on them. She raised her eyebrow and looked at the second outfit listed under ADVENTURE ARMOR. It was a dark pink fabric that covered only her breasts, the rest of her torso was covered by a see-through light pink mesh material that draped down passed her dark pink skirt, which came down a few inches above the knee. Her arms were covered in criss-crossing white material. The outfit finished off with yellow leather boots.
Kari felt a smirk come across her face as she selected to wear the adventure outfit, but she kept her golden boots.
It was day one in the Desert of Zebien.
Sora opened her eyes, which was met with the bright light of the sun hot sun. She closed her eyes and sat up, after shading her face she reopened her eyes. She stood from the sandy desert, sweating profusely.
She looked down at her outfit and felt no better about her character. "So I'm a nomad, but I'm a nomad with style... that doesn't make anything better!" Dressed in little to nothing, Sora had light pink armbands starting at her elbows, tied to her with cherry red lace winding in and out of the fabric. The same fabric covered her breasts as on her arms, they led down to a triangular point to her belly button, leaving the rest of her torso exposed. She was wearing a skirt with a large fabric belt and below was the pink skirt. The only thing about this outfit she was grateful for were the large blue boots hiking up to her knees that were protecting her feet from the burning sand.
She took a break from her appearance and around for a sign, a horse, donkey, tree, fire breathing dragon, anything!!
"Sand. There's lot's of sand..." she sighed "Great." She started searching through her tan travelers bag for a map. "Please be a map, please be a" she tore through the bag and disappointedly stated "No map."
She rolled her eyes and then regained some hope that her luck would change when she spotted a water canteen inside the bag. She scooped it up and only continued to be disappointed after attempting to poor out the evaporated liquid. She sat back down in the blazing sand and said to no one: "That's just peachy."
It was day one in the Kingdom of Crious.
Tai woke up in an average Inn that you'd see in a video game. Three beds surrounded his with three strange looking monsters sleeping in them. Why anyone would want to have a monster as their customer was beyond him, because if you were the bellhop and you ticked the monsters off... well they would have no mercy.
Tai shuddered as he thought of his surroundings, what if they were all monsters? What if he was in a monster town? He stood up from his bed and automatically yawned, stretching his arms up in the air, and saluted to no one in particular. "Well, that was creepy." He whispered.
The clash of his armor caught his attention as he looked down at his outfit. "Who sleeps in armor?!" He mused. He looked just like the knights in the games, cheesy 1300's armor, big sword in a holster which looked too big to carry but probably wasn't.
He walked down the stairs and caught sight of a cloaked man paying the woman at the register. Thank goodness, a human! Tai then felt shivers flow through his whole body as the cloaked man looked at the stairwell and smirked evilly at Tai. "Should I know him?" Tai asked aloud.
"Hello sir! Did you have a good rest?" asked the woman at the counter.
"Yeah." Tai answered sounding unsure.
She then handed a large envelope to Tai. "You're the soldier from Beonce." She smiled, extending her hand. "Here, this message arrived for you this morn."
He walked up to the desk and took it out of her hands. "Uh, you got a letter opener?"
"Here, this message arrived for you this morn."
"Never mind." He smiled as he ripped it open from the side and took out the letter, which read:
Dear Isaac,
Your service to your King Sebastian is yet again needed.
The princess of our allied kingdom, Zebien, has been abducted and taken to the desert. Zebien's king has requested the presence of all our worthiest knights to find the maiden.
There is a reward included. May you have a safe return,
Sebastian
Tai stood baffled and dumbfounded. He was a knight who was summoned to go find a princess who was captured and taken to a mysterious desert? His friends would think he was pathetic for taking as much joy in this as he did. He then scanned his video game knowledge for what he would need for his journey. He grinned and asked "Um, miss, do you have a map of the world by any chance?"
"Sorry, I just gave this Inn's last copy to that man." She said, pointing to the cloaked man who was leaving. "But there is a shop nearby where you can purchase one."
"Oh. Thanks. Hey, who was that guy?"
"That was Sir. Tanek Gyakutenno. He's a wealthy man visiting from the North."
"Oh. That's nice." Tai shifted uncomfortably. He made a mental note to remember the gentlemen's name. "Say, did you catch him staring at me? Am I supposed to follow him?"
The girl stared blankly and then turned back to Tai smiling. "Hello sir! Did you have a good rest?"
"Um, yeah. You already said that." This was getting more uncomfortable. "But, was I supposed to follow that man? Do you have any information about him?"
"That was Sir. Tanek Gyakutenno. He's a wealthy man visiting from the North."
Tai raised his eyebrow questionably and left the Inn and looked around for a shop
"This is insane! Look, there are people walking around town aimlessly! This really is like a video game." He pointed out to no one.
He wandered around the town for hours before he found the shop. "Stupid houses" he mumbled, "Confuse me will they. Humph. Well, it's the people who are confused in this town. I walked into town's people's homes and none of them care. One of them gave me gold for no reason at all!" he sighed and headed into the shop.
"Hello, do you sell ma-"
"BUY OR SELL!?" the man yelled
"Uhh, well, do you sell maps here?"
"BUY OR SELL!?"
Tai sighed, "Buy."
A huge computerized selection screen popped up in front of Tai, the shopkeeper was nowhere to be found. "The hell?" Tai looked through the screen and pushed his finger up against a map.
The shopkeeper reappeared as the screen disappeared. "100 GOLD!"
"Oh, good thing that guy gave me gold for no reason." Tai snickered and handed the disgruntled man the money. "Thanks for your-"
"BUY OR SELL!?" The man nearly screamed staring blankly at the door. It was incredibly odd how this store had a wide selection of thing's to buy, and yet nothing was featured inside the store besides the angry man behind the wooden desk.
Tai thought it best to leave and not upset the weird shop keep even more. He headed outside the city to a grassy field and pulled out his map. "All right, so...if I'm here and this place is Zebien" he paused "And... I think I need a compass" he sighed as he walked back into the town towards the shop.
It was day one in the Forest of Earthen.
Davis woke up in a dusty gray tent, there was snow all over the ground and it was raining. "My leg is freezing!" he said, noticing that his right, yellow pant leg was only half a pant-leg. His left arm was covered in bandages that cut off to a teal fingerless glove. His right arm was much stranger; it was like a slip on glove that reminded Davis of a laser cannon. The letter 'V' was shown thrice on the arm, and instead of an elbow, he had circle with an X in it. "Rad!" he exclaimed as he rushed outside the tent to see a huge Mech in front of him. He looked left and then right before he cowered on the ground covering his head with his hands.
"Dude!" he yelled in fear. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm new to this so whatever my character did, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." Davis babbled and cowered for a few minutes more before slowly looking up to discover the Mech wasn't even moving.
"Huh." Davis shook and looked back down to the ground. He wanted to know everything about his character before this Mech decided to move and kill him, so he took out his wallet and began his search to know who he is.
"Name: Marth Keeshi, Age: 18." He skimmed the card and then did a double take at his legal to serve alcohol age. "Awesome!" he yelled "Birthplace: Siah. Rank: Mech Pilot... WHOAH!" he looked back up at the Mech and let our a victory cry "YOU'RE MINE, BABY!!!!!!"
He climbed up the leg and went over to the cockpit; he looked for some kind of lever or something to open the door. All he could see was a big red button, Davis thought about the history of big red buttons for a moment, the only thing they seemed to result in were explosions. But that's only in movies! Davis thought to himself before realizing that this was a video game. He pondered this tough decision, to push or not to push. He shrugged and slammed his tan hand onto the button and the door flew open "Alriiiight!!!!" he sat in the bright yellow leather chair and closed the door, locking it. "Now then. How do I work you?"
He looked down on the floor to see a ton of tattered papers, the first thing Davis noticed was a smooth brown cloth with directions on it. Opening it up he saw a big red X and a lot of islands. Davis raised his eyebrow and tossed the cloth back onto the ground. "That would be a lot cooler if I knew where it's supposed to be." Also among the papers lay a two thousand three hundred and twenty-four page Manuel: "How to Pilot a Mech".
"Oh man..." he sighed as he picked up the huge book. Even video games hate me! He thought and quickly skimmed his eyes over the pages while flipping them frantically "Awe, forget it. I'll just wing it!" he said as he started mashing various buttons with his palms until he finally found the power button. He then started to label them as he saw what they did.
"Now, we just need a name for you! Now most people name their cars and stuff 'Betsy' but I have an aunt Betsy, so that would just be weird. Hmmm." He scratched the back of his head "How about, SuperDavis? Yeah! I love it cause it's just like me, big, strong and better than T.J!" he said while bobbing his head up and down evilly.
It was day one on the Pirate Ship Chikastutso
T.K. woke up in a dingy room that reeked of rum and a fish he couldn't quite put his finger on. He hopped out of a hammock that he imagined was responsible for the rather unpleasant crick in his neck. He looked down at the tattered rags that he imagined were once rather extravagant robes. Lined with gold and silver runes, the cloth draped down past his feet onto the floor behind him. He had a hood adorned with jewels and metals he figured his character might have earned at some point; a good sign. His sleeves hung well past his hands, and there was a long, tarnished gold and crystal staff on the floor next to his unaccommodating bunk. Catching his reflection in the window, he noticed his face more or less unchanged. His eyes and soft features remained untouched by the game's character design engine.
T.K. opened the wooden swinging door into a completely wooden hallway. He then noticed that he was swaying, or was the room swaying? He also heard the sound of someone gasping for air. His first instinct was to find the person and help them. He walked through some more musty rooms before reaching a set of stairs. He started climbing them and then noticed many red splotches on the stairs that looked like blood. He ran up the stairs to see a horrific sight of pirates, dead pirates! So not only was he on a ship with about fifty pirates, but he was on a ship with something that could take down fifty pirates!
He could see one survivor. This guy must have been the one T.K. heard below deck. T.K. ran up to the dying man and held him in his arms. "Richard, we have been attacked by a giant metal demon. Although you are but a traveling Mage upon this ship, it is my dying wish that you take revenge for myself and my crew by becoming captain of the Chikastutso." The man then disappeared and a letter floated above T.K.'s head. T.K. grabbed it and opened it, it was the dying captain's last words.
"I guess I just inherited a ship." T.K. said as he scratched his head and looked around at the now vacant ship.
It was January 25th at the Kamiya household, 4:45PM.
"They've been in there for a good half hour." Izzy stated. "We should probably start working on a way to get inside!" Izzy was about to plug his computer into one of the slots in the console, when Tai's mom walked into the room. "Hi kids!" her happy exterior faded into confusion and shock when she spotted the children who were in big bubble-like objects. "What's going on!?"
Yolei could feel the sweat forming on her head. "I would explain it but I wouldn't want to steal Cody's thunder!"
"They're...they're!" Cody looked around the room in a panic "Joe knows! Don't you Joe?"
"Uhh, yeah, but... I... Um, I have to use the restroom!" Joe said, running down the hall.
Izzy sighed. "Their playing the newest model video-game. Everything's fine. It's just virtual reality, nobody's in any danger. I'm managing everything from outside."
"Oh." Her face returned to it's happy state. "Well, you'll have to get them out, T.K has a phone call!"
"I'll take it for him!" Izzy walked down the stairs and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"EH...T.K?"
"No, this is Izzy Izumi."
"Oh, why isn't it T.K?"
"T.K's um..." Izzy looked frantically around the room for some kind of excuse. "He's, um, he's just, at the park!"
"But Mrs. Kamiya said he was there..."
"Yeah. Heh, heh. He just left and he can't come home either... because, um... he's sleeping over!" Three hurrahs for quick excuses. "If he can, he can right? Pleeease!"
"Absolutely, I'll come by and bring his things!"
Izzy smiled nervously. "Wonderful!" He hung up the phone and ran back into Tai's room. "Hey guys, T.K's mom thinks he's sleeping over, so she's bringing his stuff and what do we do now!?"
"I don't know, I don't know! You're the smart one!" Joe said frantically.
"Why can't we just take his stuff?" Cody asked.
"We can!" Izzy grasped onto Cody's shoulders and started shaking him. "We can!!! YOU'VE SAVED US ALL!"
Izzy ran downstairs, waiting for T.K's mom to show up, while Cody stood bug-eyed in Tai's room. "Joe? Was it just me or was that was a little..." Cody thought "Hysterical."
"Izzy gets kind of, excited, when he's under pressure" Joe shrugged.
Yolei laughed, "Kind of like you, Mr. Potty pants!"
"Hey" Joe said defensively "I really did have to use the Restroom, with perfect timing might I add!"
Twenty minutes later, T.K's mom showed up. Izzy greeted her at the door.
"Hi!" She said "Well," she handed Izzy three duffel bags and a backpack "Here's all his stuff!"
"Um, he's only staying for the day you know."
"Yes and here are his things. Can I see him, do you think? I waited a while before coming so he would be home from the park so I could kiss him goodbye."
"Uhh...they're, he's, they're um, they're in the Digital world!!!" Izzy blurted out.
She sighed heavily. "That boy's in big trouble! He told me he'd mention when he went to the Digital world, I would have brought snacks! There would have been snacks!!!"
"That sounds wonderful, but, well, it was important because, Mrs. Kamiya was on the phone and...And it's um, Patamon's birthday!"
"Darn. That's all the more reason to have brought snacks! Oh well..." she sighed, "That explains why Patamon isn't at home. Well you tell him when he gets out to call me?"
"I will. Bye." He closed the door and sighed, "Wait a second..." he dragged the bags back to Tai's room.
"Camping trip?" Joe asked staring at the three duffle bags.
"You'd think that!" Izzy said, dropping the bags "Hey, did T.K bring Patamon?"
The three others looked half-heartedly around the room. "No" Yolei rose her eyebrow "Why?"
"Oh." Izzy scratched his nose "Ms Takaishi said Patamon wasn't at home. I should make a mental note to tell T.K he's lost his Digimon."
"No he hasn't!" a squeaky voice said.
"Patamon!" yelled the three in union.
Patamon popped out of one of the duffel bags, gasping for air. "I snuck in while T.K's mom wasn't looking. I didn't know she'd be packing his socks and underwear in that bag, though."
"That's all T.K's socks and underwear?" Cody asked in amusement.
"Nope" Patamon bounced onto the floor and ran over to the bubble like mold that T.K was in. "Some of them are still at his house. Um, what are you guys doing to T.K and Matt, and Kari." Patamon looked at Izzy with a 'I knew it all along' look on his face "Izzy, are you a mad scientist?!"
"What?" Izzy laughed. "No. This is just a video game, I won't bore you with the details just yet, but I will tell you that a whole universe may lie in the balance of the game. And now if you don't mind, I have to find a way into it" Izzy said, finally getting his Laptop plugged in.
